Years Go By
by The Acrobat
Summary: Growing up is hard, and for Remus it's harder for most. It certainly doesn't help that his friends hate each other and that Sirius only wants him around to tease him. Follows Remus from his first day at Hogwarts until his death. Slash later.
1. Friends and Enemies

**EDIT: I suppose I should add disclaimer and warning and what-not.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Warnings: Slash later. Don't like, don't read.**

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**Friend and Enemies**

Remus had been inside Hogwarts for less than two minutes, and he'd already made an enemy. He cowered slightly as a boy his age sneered at him, having just finished a rather uncreative insult. The other first years chuckled along with the black haired boy.

"Thanks...," mumbled a small, skinny boy standing besides Remus. He looked up at Remus, eyes shining with tears and gratitude. "You didn't have to do that you know." Remus glanced down at him and shrugged. "I'm Peter, by the way." Peter smiled.

Remus stuck out a hand, awkwardly formal for an eleven-year-old meeting a peer. Peter hesitantly shook it as Remus told him his name.

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Just moments before, Peter had accidentally bumped into the black haired boy and was immediately shoved to the ground. "Watch where you're going," He spat, glowering down at Peter. A few students crowding around him laughed harshly. Remus pursed his lips and walked over to Peter, helping him off the floor.

"Lay off. He didn't do it on purpose," Remus chided, voice slightly shaky.

The black haired boy took in Remus's appearance immediately, noting the second-hand robes and patchy wizard's hat. He ignored the other boy's comment, choosing to attack him instead. "Nice robes." Remus immediately noticed the well-groomed appearance of the other boy, his expensive custom made robes and silky shoulder length hair. "Did you buy them in a second-hand shop, or just find them in a rubbish bin?" Remus turned red, angry and embarrassed at the same time. He quietly held his lips together, focusing on controlling himself by breathing deeply.

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Remus jumped back to the present as a large oak door swung open in front of them, an older witch standing underneath the arch. "I'm Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of the school, and it's time for you to be sorted. Well, come along then," she stated in a no-nonsense voice, and lead them through the doorway into what Remus knew must be the Great Hall. Peter stayed close to Remus, muttering his amazement all the while. Stars shone down from the enchanted ceiling he had read about many time in Hogwarts A History. Four long tables ran along the room, representing the four houses, and a fifth ran perpendicular, seating the faculty.

The witch lined them up against the wall as a stool was brought out and a hat that made Remus's look brand new set on top. Everyone in the hall grew silent and Remus grinned, knowing what to expect.

A large rip suddenly open up, and a voice belted out from hat.

"_I may not look like much more _

_Than battered cloth and thread_

_But if you want to know where to go, _

_Just place me on your head._

_I'll shuffle through your thoughts, _

_Your desires and motives,_

_I'll look at what you've got _

_and tell you where you're going._

_To Gryffindor, I send the brave, _

_To Ravenclaw the wise,_

_To Hufflepuff, the kind of heart, _

_And Slyterin the sly._

_You may think you know_

_To which house you belong,_

_And even if you don't agree with me,_

_I've had yet to be proven wrong._

_So if you're not too afraid_

_To let me peek inside,_

_Just place my brim atop your head,_

_I will will be your guide!_

The large rip closed back up and the students broke out in applause, Remus included. He saw the black haired boy laughing with his friends, mostly likely joking at the shabby hat, thought Remus glumly. Peter was whispering at his side, "Did you see that! The hat just sang! A singing hat, can you believe?"

Professor McGonagall drew a scroll of parchment out of the air, which she then began to read from.

"Bertram, Aubrey." A tall, lanky girl walked shakily to the hat, looking as if she wished she was much smaller. She sat down on the stool and McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

"Hufflepuff!" Exclaimed the hat after about five seconds.

"Black, Andromeda," Read McGonagall. Peter was whispering frantically to Remus.

"What house do you think you'll be in? I reckon I'll end up in Hufflepuff. My mom was..."

"Slytherin!" The hat proclaimed the instant the brim touched Andromeda's head. She strutted away from the stool to sit at the cheering table.

"I dunno," Replied Remus to Peter's question. He knew he wouldn't be in Slytherin. He wasn't sly or sneaky in the slightest. He wasn't particularly smart either and therefore wouldn't be in Ravenclaw either. At the moment, Remus felt far from brave, so no to Gryffindor as well. That only left Hufflepuff, and Remus supposed he would fit in there more than anywhere else. "Hufflepuff, I guess."

"Black, Sirius."

The black haired boy strode to the stool, and grimaced at the hat. Remus laughed inwardly, thinking he probably didn't want the shabby object to touch his head.

A good minute passed as Sirius sat there under the hat. Students at the tables began shifting around. Remus heard a red-headed first year mutter, "He's a Black!My brother says the hat always sends then to Slytherin immediately."

Finally, the hat spoke. "GRYFFINDOR!"

And audible gasp filled the room, followed by a short silence. A few Gryffindors began clapping politely, and the rest of the table quickly joined in along with some Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Remus noted not a single Slytherin clapped nor cheered. Rather they whispered quietly among themselves.

McGonagall hadn't even paused in the proceedings, and by the time the majority of the students got over their shock, the hat had finished sorting Diggory, Amos into Hufflepuff. Time passed both too quickly and very slowly for Remus as students were sorted into the four houses. Finally, McGonagall called "Lupin, Remus" to be sorted.

The boy gulped and Peter gave him a reassuring look, and muttered, "See you in Hufflepuff," lightheartedly. Remus stumbled over to the stool, sure he would trip at any moment. Miraculously, he made it, and sat down. The black hat was plopped onto his head, pushing his bangs into his eyes and obscuring his vision. Remus gave a start when the hat began talking in his ear.

"Ah, yes. Interesting. I can't remember the last time I sorted a werewolf." Remus cringed. "Don't, worry, I can keep secrets," Assured the hat. "Hmmm... where to put you. I see you think you belong in Hufflepuff, but you bravely stood up for a peer earlier, did you not?"

"Not Gryffindor," Remus thought, "That's where that Black guy went... He hates me already."

"Not a very good reason if you ask me," Commented the hat. "No, no, there's really no other place for you." Suddenly, Remus heard the voice through his ears rather than inside his head.

"Gryffindor!"

Remus looked over at Peter, a look of terror crossing his face, as cheers erupted from the red and gold decked table. As he walked along searching for an empty seat, he was greeted by hugs, hi-fives, and one chaste kiss on the cheek by a sixth or seventh year girl. He noticed a girl who had been sorted earlier, Lila or something, sitting next to an open space. She, like the other Gryffindors, congratulated him enthusiastically.

"Mind if I sit here?" He asked, after receiving a playful punch in the shoulder from the girl.

"Sure, go ahead." She smiled at Remus as she scooted to make room. "I'm Lily Evans. You're Remus."

"Yes, I am," He stated awkwardly. "Erm... nice to meet you." Lily laughed kindly. Thankfully, before he had to speak again, Peter Pettigrew was sorted into Gryffindor, distracting her. Peter looked up and down for Remus and sat down next to him without asking.

"Can you believe it?" Asked Peter breathlessly. "We're both in Gryffindor! I was so worried when you were. I thought there was no way I would be too! The sorting hat thought I would do well in Hufflepuff, but it knew I wanted to be in Gryffindor, and said I had some courage..."

Peter continued to talk in Remus's ear as more students were sorted. Remus nodded politely at regular intervals until Peter stopped talking, not entirely listening. Finally, Wilcox, Bethany was sorted into Ravenclaw, and the sorting hat and stool were taken away.

A tall skinny man with a long silver beard stood up from the head of the table, and beamed down at all of them. "Hello, students! Welcome to another year. As most of you know, I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of this school. You can call me Professor Dumbledore." Dumbledore's eye twinkled, as if daring to see what happened if you called anything else. "Now that the sorting is finished, let us eat."

Peter marveled a food magically appeared on the table, and wasted no time in telling Remus how amazed he was while helping his plate. Remus greedily loaded his plate as well. There was more food on the table than he had ever seen before in his life. For several minutes, talking mostly ceased around the Great Hall, most of the noise coming from the clicking of forks and knives on plates. Soon, however, Peter began talking to Remus again, which Remus endured. Lily also spoke to him and Peter every now and then, laughing at Remus's lack of social skills. Remus knew, however, this was a friendly laugh, and even though Lily seemed to think him silly and Peter talked far too much, he was content. Because, for the moment, he had two people he could almost call friends.


	2. Late Night Confessions

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Warnings: Some mild cussing. Slash later.**

**Here's chapter number two! Enjoy!  
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**Late Night Confessions**

A back to school party had started almost immediately in the Gryffindor common room. Butterbeer and firewhiskey appeared as prefects attempted to usher some of the younger students to bed. Remus was happy to comply, but halfway to the staircase Lily grabbed his wrist.

"Hey, stay for a little while. The prefects aren't really going to send us away bed."

Remus still wanted to leave the party, but said, "Okay," and followed her to a couple of armchairs. When Remus had decided to go to bed, Peter had asked where he was going. Remus told him, and the boy magically disappeared from his side. Remus noticed he now shadowed a boy with jet black, unruly hair whom Remus recognized from the sorting.

"Parties aren't really my thing either," Lily near-shouted over the noise, smiling. Remus attempted to smile back, but only managed a grimace. "But being social is a good idea, don't you think?" Remus nodded hesitantly. A loud party wasn't really his idea of being social. For him, sitting with a friend reading would do just fine—but, oh wait, he realized, that wasn't really very social at all.

Just then Peter wandered over, the boy with the messy hair right beside him. "This is Lily and Remus." Peter motioned to the pair, who had been sitting silently. "Guys, this is James."

James grinned widely. "How do you do?" He asked Lily, after giving Remus a quick nod. Lily replied as Peter knelt next to Remus's chair.

"I thought you were going to bed." It was a question, Remus decided, from Peter's tone of voice.

"It's improper grammar to use a declarative statement as a question," Remus chided, before he could stop himself. Peter stared, eyebrows furrowing. "I mean," Remus noticed Lily giving him meaningful glances, but couldn't determine what they meant. Peter leaned closer to hear over the noise, a little too close for Remus. He sat back further in his chair. "I mean," he repeated, searching for an answer. "Yes, I was going to bed, right now in fact." The boy suddenly shot out of his chair and began walking towards the stairs. He heard Peter ask if he could have his chair and looked back. Nodding, he saw Lily motioning for him to stay, but was too tied up with James to physically stop him as before. A small feeling of guilt welling up in his stomach, Remus took the situation as a blessing and escaped upstairs, not caring that he was probably the first person to leave the party.

When he opened the door to the dorms—fifth floor according to the prefect who lead them up to the tower—he squeaked in surprise. The snobby black haired boy—Sirius Black, he remembered—was sitting on his bed, quill in hand. Pieces of parchment littered the room. Sirius glowered at Remus, who suddenly had half a mind to return to the party. Instead, he gathered up some of the courage the sorting hat assured Remus he had, mumbled a quiet hello, and wandered into the room.

Sirius ignored the greeting, and resumed writing. "Erm..." Remus said, glancing around at the beds. Sirius ignored this as well. Remus took a deep breath, then asked the fuming boy, "Do we have assigned beds, or..." Remus trailed off, cowering under the other boy's withering gaze.

"I don't give a damn which bed you take." Remus cringed at the boy's language. "Any of them have to be ten times better than the excuse of a bed you've had to sleep on." Remus turned pink and lookly silently away from the boy. "But I guess that one's yours," Continued Sirius, pointing at a worn trunk. "Only that old thing could belong to you."

Remus wished he could be brave and coolly insult Sirius back. But instead, he wandered over to his trunk and opened it up, pulling out his pajamas. He got onto his bed and closed the curtains for privacy as he changed. When he poked his head back out in order to put away his robes, Sirius spoke.

"Why aren't you at the party anyways?" Remus thought it uncharacteristic of the boy to ask him an almost friendly question, although his tone dripped with sarcasm.

"Don't like parties," Remus mumbled in reply, neatly folding his robes. "What about you?" He asked Sirius politely, hoping that maybe they could not hate each other.

"That's none of your business," Sirius spat. Remus suppressed a whimper, feeling small, and crawled back into bed. He listened to the rhythmic scratching of Sirius's quill as he attempted to fall asleep. He was one the edge of consciousness when the writing stopped and Sirius spoke again.

"It's because I hate Gryffindor," He stated bluntly. Remus didn't respond. "My whole bloody"—Remus cringed again at the swearing—"family has been in Slytherin for ages. And me? I'm in stupid Gryffindor. I'll get a howler in the morning from Mum." Suddenly the boy's voice cracked and his breath hitched. He tried to cover it with a cough. "That's why I'm writing." Sirius sniffed. "Trying to explain. My Dad's powerful... maybe he can get Dumbledore to switch me houses." Now he audibly sobbed.

Remus laid in bed, wishing he knew what to say, a thousand stupid thoughts crossing his head: "The sorting had said he'd never been wrong before", "I didn't think I'd end up in Gryffindor either", "You should stop swearing so much", "You're last sentence was a grammatical nightmare." Remus said none of them, instead staying silent.

"God," Sirius choked out between sobs, "I sound like such a poofter." Remus heard paper crumpling and then bare feet on stone floor. The steps grew louder and louder, and suddenly Remus's hangings were thrown open. Remus quickly closed his eyes and opened his mouth, breathing deeply, trying to appear asleep. Sirius was still sobbing silently as he muttered, "Thank God you were asleep for that...," and then walked back over to his own bed.

Remus stayed still and silent for what felt like an eternity before he heard the other boy begin to snore. He let out a sigh of relief and adjusted his awkwardly positioned limbs before rolling over and falling asleep. He dreamed vividly about receiving a Howler from Sirius's mum, threatening him for making her son act like a poofter. Lily was laughing at him cruelly along-side Peter and James. He woke with a start when James and Peter walked in long after mid-night, the dream burned into his mind. By morning though, it was completely forgotten.

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**It's rather short, but this seemed like a good place to end it. Hope you liked it!**

** Leave a review if you'd like.  
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	3. New Alliances

**Chapter Three! It's a bit longer. I had more time to write today. Hope you all like it!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Warnings: Slash later. Minor cussing and boyish attitude.**

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**New Alliances**

No Howler came for Sirius that day, nor the day after. Remus was sitting next to Lily at breakfast, enjoying a plate full of eggs and ham, when a flurry of owls dove into the Great Hall. A large brown owl—rented from the post office no doubt—landed in front of Remus and stuck out it's leg while nibbling at Lily's sausage.

"Hey, now," scolded Remus as he untied the letter and stuffed it into his robe. "Go on." Remus shooed the owl away, who gave the boy an annoyed look and then took off.

"Aren't you going to read that now?" asked Lily, fork half-way to her mouth.

Remus was about to explain that he would rather wait until he was alone when James and Peter sat down next to them. "G'morning," James yawned, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He began eating off Remus's plate, but unlike with the owl, Remus didn't tell James off. Peter grunted, looking far worse off than James, and shoveled food onto his own plate. Lily let out one of those kind giggles she often did, nearly snorting up her milk. Remus didn't see the humor in the situation, but had noticed Lily often laughed at things Remus didn't find amusing.

As James struck up a conversation with Lily, Remus glanced at the end of the table where he knew Sirius would be sitting by himself. The boy was hastily reading a letter, a look of indignation on his face, lips pulled into a scowl not unlike the one he used when looking at Remus. Suddenly, he crumpled the letter, made to throw it on the table, then thought better of it and shoved it into his robes. He stood up, half his food untouched, and stormed out of the Hall, briefly raising a sleeve to rub his eyes.

"Remus, earth to Remus." Remus turned his head severely to look at James, who grinned at him. "Lily was trying to ask you a question." James flashed a smile at Lily who rolled her eyes.

"What?" Remus asked Lily, trying to return his focus to his new friends.

"I was wondering what you were thinking about," she said casually, using her fork to move bits of food about her plate.

"Oh," Remus said stupidly. "I thought Sirius would've gotten a Howler by now."

Lily looked at him and James laughed. Peter, who had perked up considerably from a few bites of food, asked, mouth full, "Why'd you think he would?"

"Because he, oh..." Remus suddenly remembered he was supposedly asleep during that conversation. The other three looked at him expectantly. "He... well, his entire family's in Slytherin," he recovered lamely.

"Ha!" James laughed. "Good one Remus. Can you imagine how his parent's must of felt, finding out? That their snobbish son had tainted the blood line by being sorted into Gryffindor? Mind you, I don't really see why the sorting hat would put him in here. I mean, come on, he obviously hates us, and we hate him."

"Hey, now," Lily chided. "The sorting hat is never wrong. Maybe you should give him a chance, maybe he won't be so bad."

James gave her an incredulous look. "Fat chance." When Lily shot him a glare, he suddenly became very interested in his knife. Lily turned to Remus, a pleading look on her face.

"Remus?"

His heart sank. Of all the Gryffindors, Sirius had to hate him the most. Not only was there the incident before the sorting, but two nights ago he had sobbed in front of Remus, not to mention the disaster in Charms yesterday. He smiled weakly. "I can try... but I don't see it doing much good." Lily suddenly lunged across the table to deliver a very awkward hug, which Remus returned weakly with a single arm. Lily squealed her thanks in his ear.

When she finally released him, he muttered something about forgetting his potions book in the Tower, and fled before he could make any more stupid promises.

Up in the dorms, Remus searched in his trunk for his schedule so he could double check what books he needed to grab. Stuffing some parchment, a few quills, a bottle of ink, and the necessary books in his bag, he noticed a piece of discarded parchment on the floor. He was reaching to pick it up, intending to throw it in the waste bin, when the door the bathroom was flung open.

Sirius stood in the archway, eyes slightly puffy, looking cool and confident. "Thought you'd have a look at my letter, did you?" asked Sirius, arching an eyebrow.

"What? No! I haven't got your letter." Remus glanced nervously towards the door, torn between self-preservation and his promise to Lily.

"Yes you have. Right there, in your hand."

Remus looked at the piece of trash in his hand. "No, this is just a piece of trash. I swear, I just found it on the floor." His voice was shaking now. What Sirius did next surprised him. He laughed, and not at Remus.

"Yes, I suppose is." He walked towards Remus, hand outstretched. Remus stared, wondering if he was supposed to shake it. "The parchment?"

"Oh!" Remus fumbled the ball, then set it into Sirius's hand.

"It's from my Mum." Sirius had moved to his bed, laying down with his lower legs bent over the edge. "She's mad I'm not in Slytherin. Something about tainting the family name." He gave out a quiet snort. Remus stood, stunned, not understanding why the other boy was opening up to him, for a second time no less.

Sirius sat up quickly. "I'll show her!" he said defiantly. "If I'm going to be in Gryffindor, then I'll be the best ruddy Gryffindor there is. If I'm going to taint the family name, I ought to do it properly, don't you think?" Sirius spat on the ground and Remus leaned against his own bed.

When Sirius paused for a long while, Remus realized he was supposed to answer. "Oh, well, I don't know," he muttered, eyes looking at the floor.

"I suppose you wouldn't. It'd be hard to taint your family name."

Remus felt his cheeks warming, but reminded himself to stay in control. To not let his feelings get the better of him.

"Do you know what Gryffindors do best?" Sirius asked. This time, he didn't wait for Remus's answer. "Give Slytherins hell," he said menacingly, smiling at Remus. "And guess what Lupin?" Remus attempted a shrug, not entirely sure he wanted to know. "You're going to help me." With that, Sirius slung his bag over his shoulder and swagged out of the room, as if for dramatic effect. Remus was left to wonder what he had gotten himself into between his promise to Lily to give Sirius a chance, and Sirius's demand that he help him give the Slytherins heck (as Remus preferred to think of it), whatever that entailed.

After leaving Gryffindor tower, Remus walked down to the dungeons for potions. After getting lost once or twice, a Ravenclaw prefect pointed him in the right directed. Embarrassed, he thanked her and sprinted to class. The class was about half-full when he entered. He saw Lily talking to a tall, lanky boy he didn't recognize, and walked over to her.

"Hey, Remus," Lily greeting him. "Hey Sev, this is Remus. He's in Gryffindor with me. Remus, this is Severus. He's in Slytherin. We met on the train ride."

Severus nodded politely, and Remus gave a nervous smile. "Nice to meet you," said Remus. Severus just gave another nod.

"Oh, Severus is just shy," Lily explained, and laughed cheerily. "Go ahead and sit with us for now, Remus. I'm sure Severus wouldn't mind."

Remus thought Severus gave him a look that suggested he might very well mind, but wasn't about to say so in front Lily. Remus, who didn't want to upset one of his only friends, thought it best to comply, and sat down.

At this point, the rest of the class had filed in. "Settle down everyone," called the professor, who had been sitting at his desk until that point, looking over a piece of parchment. Almost everyone sat down quickly and quieted. The professor smiled. "Ah, yes. That's better. I am Professor Slughorn, potions master at the school. I have always believed in a hands-on approach to learning, which is why we will start off with a very simple contentment potion for our first lesson."

Here he paused and looked around the room. "Ah good, there are twenty of us, so how about we split into groups of four around each caldron, yes?"

Remus, who could count quite well, noticed that he, Lily, and Severus were only three. James ambled over right then, Peter right behind.

"Oi, Evans, Remus, work with us two," James practically demanded. Lily's face darkened, not taking well to being ordered around.

"Well, James, as you can see there are three of use already, and three plus two does not equal four."

"Wait, you were planning on working with this grease-ball?" James asked incredulously, pointing rudely at Severus. Remus had to agree that the boys hair was rather greasy. However, he didn't see why this should disqualify him from working with James. Lily, on the other hand, just looked offended.

"His name is Severus," Lily huffed, "and yes, I have every intention of working with him. So you, James Potter, can sod off. We'll find someone else to work with." She glanced over at Peter kindly. "You can work with us, if you'd like."

It was James's turn to be offended. "Alright Evans, you can work with big nose over here if you want. But I'd warn you, Slytherins can rub off in a wrong way. Come on, Peter." Peter looked torn, glancing between James and Lily, but when James stalked off to join a couple of Gryffindor girls, Peter followed immediately.

"Oh, look," said Lily suddenly, "Sirius doesn't seem to have a group. Sirius!" Sirius looked over from where he was standing near one corner by himself. "You can come work with us."

Sirius looked as though he was about to decline when Slughorn spoke. "Come on now, it can't be that hard to sort into groups." Sirius walked over and sat down, not looking entirely happy with the situation.

"Okay, class, the ingredients are on page forty-seven of your texts. Go ahead and gather them from the cupboard, and I'll walk around to check before you go any further."

Immediately the class pulled out their books and rifled through. Severus, Remus noticed, was already on the right page. "I'll go get them," he volunteered, standing up and walking towards the cabinet. It was very tense, Remus decided, having to sit next to Sirius and Severus, neither of which seemed to like him very much.

Once Severus came back, Slughorn checked their ingredients, and told them to proceed with the instructions. Lily and Severus began immediately, delegating the chopping to Remus and Sirius. As he glanced over the instructions, Remus decided that if potion-making was anything like cooking, he'd be rubbish at it.

All went well for most of the class, Lily continually exclaiming how their potion was coming along perfectly. Slughorn kept popping by, praising Lily and Severus for their work. Only then, Remus accidentally squirted bits of slug on Severus, who immediately blamed Sirius. Lily hadn't seen what happened, and Sirius seemed more concerned with insulting Severus than denying the action.

"Maybe you'll wash your hair then, now that you have slug all in it!"

"You're just jealous because you aren't even good enough to be in Slytherin!"

Lily had gone pale and Remus sat quietly, trying to mop up slug juice off the table. Sirius had gone in for a punch right as Severus picked up wartroot to throw at him, which he dropped into the cauldron when Sirius knocked him to the ground. Lily gasped as the potion began bubbling viciously, foaming over the edges. Severus yelped when the concoction touched his skin, large green boils forming.

"Oh dear," sighed Professor Slughorn as he quickly cleaned up the mess with a flick of his wand. "And it was coming along so nicely too." He easily pulled the two boys apart, clicking his tongue in disapproval. "Ten points from each house, I think."

Both boys made an outraged noise, and James complained in a loud whisper, "Not fair! He doesn't really belong in our house anyways." Lily shot a reproving look, but James only smiled. The Gryffindor girls and Peter laughed at his joke.

"If this happens again," warned Slughorn as he examined the boils on Severus' arm, "It will be twenty and detentions."

"But he started it Sir!"

"Did not! He started accusing me of something I didn't do!"

"Liar!"

"Git!"

"Enough!" shouted Slughorn. "Both of you will write an extra essay on the effects of contentment potion, to be handed in by the end of class. Start now. You only have fifteen minutes." Slughorn flicked his wand, the boils disappearing, and resumed walking around the room as the two boy grudgingly got out a piece parchment and began writing.

Remus and Lily sat quietly for the rest of class, Lily switching between looks of concern for Severus, and looks of contempt for Sirius and James. Remus did what he did best and pulled out his Transfiguration book and began reading their assignment.

When class finally ended, Lily briefly pulled Remus aside. "Okay, maybe James was right about Sirius." She looked as thought this admission pained her. "Don't be terrible to him, but I wouldn't mind if he didn't have any friends either." She waited for Remus to acknowledge her with a nod before running off towards Severus to say goodbye before the next class.

Remus felt someone push something into his pocket, and looked up to see Sirius glancing at him as he walked away, a smirk on his face. Remus pulled out a piece of parchment. Remus groaned when he read it.

R—

_Meet at 5 in the dorm for planning. I know our target._

—_S_

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**Poor Remus. He needs to learn how to stand up for himself.**

**I'm worried I made Slughorn a bit OCC as I haven't read the sixth book in while. Hopefully he turned out okay. **

**Hope you enjoyed it! Please Review!  
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	4. A Prank, a Fight, and a Full Moon

**Here's chapter four! Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, except my terrible titles.**

**Warnings: Not really any this chapter... maybe a little (very minor) language. And possibly some grammar mistakes.**

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**A Prank, a Fight, and a Full Moon**

"I don't think this is a good idea," said Remus softly.

"Quiet, Lupin." Sirius was standing next to him, dungbombs in hand. "You said Snape comes to the library every day at this time?"

Remus shifted awkwardly. "Yeah. But usually with Lily and I." He whispered the last part softly. The two were standing behind a bookshelf, peering over a row of books at the study table Remus, Severus, and Lily used after dinner most nights to work on homework together. Over the past week, Remus had spent a lot of time with Severus because of Lily, and found he actually liked the boy fine, greasy hair and all.

"I really, really don't think this is a good idea," Remus reiterated. He hadn't meant to suggest to Sirius the place to prank Severus, and certainly hadn't suggest him as a target. When Sirius had first mentioned it a week ago, Remus didn't try too hard to talk Sirius out of it. But now, he and Severus were friends. "Why can't you pick on some other Slytherin?" Remus asked desperately, much braver than he normally was around Sirius.

The other boy shot him a glare. "Number one, he's a slimy git. Number two, his nose is obscenely large." Remus touched his nose absentmindedly, aware that his own was quite large as well. "Number three, he's a Slytherin. And number four, I have to get him back for potions last week."

Remus was about to protest once more when he heard Lily's familiar laugh. "Any second now...," Sirius said excitedly. Remus whimpered.

"What about Lily?" he hissed.

Sirius shrugged. "I'll make sure Snape gets the full blast. Lily ought to be able to avoid the worst of it." Remus thought Sirius didn't seem too worried about the red head.

Suddenly, after performed a bit of logic, Remus had a plan. He knew Sirius would get Severus either way, but just maybe he could draw Lily out of the line of fire and also appear innocent in the matter. Hurriedly grabbing a near-by book off the shelf, he darted out into the opening.

"Hey! Lily!" Remus near-shouted. Both Lily and Severus turned to face him. Lily was already sitting, and Severus was setting a few books onto the table. "Can you come here real quick? I can't figure out where this book goes." Remus knew the lie was lame, and he knew that Lily knew he understood the library's organization well enough. She seemed to detect the urgency in his voice, however, and follow him behind a near bookshelf, but not the one Sirius was behind.

When Severus made a move to follow them, Lily said, "Wait for us here, okay Sev?" Severus scowled, but complied. Seconds later Remus heard a small explosion. Lily sniffed. "Do you smell—"

"Yeah, it's dungbomb. It's probably be best if we ran." Remus hurriedly stuffed the book on the wrong shelf and led Lily out of the Library quickly.

"Oh, but, my stuff...," Lily said nervously, glancing towards the table.

"Trust me, it's not worth it," Remus insisted. "We can come back in ten minutes." They rushed by Madame Pince, who shot a disapproving look.

They waited outside the library for a few minutes. Shortly after they left, several students had rushed out, robes over their noses. Sirius, Remus noticed, was one of them. He winked conspiratorially as he passed before running off in the direction of the tower.

When Severus exited, Remus moved to cover his nose. Lily quickly followed suit. "Oh, Sev," Lily moaned from behind her hands. "You smell something awful." He made a move towards her, opening his mouth to speak, but Lily stopped him. "You should go shower. Really."

"I'm sorry Severus," Remus remarked guilty. "It's never fun getting dungbombed."

Severus glared, but Remus knew it wasn't directed at him or Lily, and sighed in relief. "Ten," Severus said plainly. "Ten dungbombs!" He sounded close to tears. Lily looked as thought she wanted to comfort him, but was too repulsed by the smell.

Madame Pince walked out just then. "Snape, go. You're stinking up the library."

"Alright, I was just leaving." He looked sadly at Lily and then walked towards the stairs.

"Poor Sev. I wonder who did it." Lily sighed.

Remus looked at the floor. "Yeah. Me too."

* * *

Severus smelled like dung for days. No one was willing to sit near him in class or at meal times. Remus heard a rumor that he'd been kicked out of the Slytherin common room until the stench died down, although because it came from Sirius, who he knew wanted to humiliate Severus as much as possible, Remus was skeptical. Also, Severus had told him it wasn't true. Currently, Remus cared much more about Severus' opinion than Sirius's.

The smell was so terrible that even Lily had taken to kindly avoiding him, often needing to run off the bathroom or her dorm when conversations lasted for more than a couple of minutes. Remus, who still felt incredibly guilty, forced himself to sit next to Severus in the classes they had together and hang out with him during breaks. Remus thought at the very least Severus wouldn't suspect him of having a hand in the act.

Sirius however, was anything but remorsful. He regaled the tale for all to hear in the common room whenever asked, showing no qualms about admitting to the crime. He was an instant celebrity among many of the Gryffindors.

"How could you!" shrieked Lily one night in the common room, after hearing from a friend whom the culprit was. Sirius merely smiled haughtily, pausing in the middle of another retelling.

"Oh, come off it Evans. It was that git or Slytherin anyways," commented James, who had suddenly decided that Sirius was very cool.

"What did he ever do to you James?" Lily asked. Her hands were on her hips, her head cocked to the side. Remus, who was sitting at a near-by table studying, decided she looked very intimidating, and made a note not to cross her.

"I dunno," began James, "maybe it was the look he gave me."

"Or his hair," offered Sirius.

"Or his nose."

"Or maybe it's the fact he exists," finished Sirius gleefully. Lily stormed off, fuming.

* * *

That night in the common room James and Sirius were planning another attack on the Slytherins.

"That's bloody brilliant!" said James, referring to Sirius's plan.

Peter sat on his bed, gazing admiringly over at the two who were sprawled over James's bed. "How do you come up with these plans?" asked Peter, grinning.

James looked up, slightly perturbed at being interrupted. "Oh, well you know Lupin actually gave me the idea for the first one," Sirius said, offhandedly.

Remus, who had been studying his Transfiguration notes, looked up suddenly. "Did not!"

"Ah, look at him. So modest." Sirius smiled over at Remus and then looked back at Peter. "He told me how Snivellus routinely visited the library, and just like that, a plan was born."

"Wow," marveled Peter, who was suddenly gazing over at Remus. Remus now tried to hide himself behind his potions book.

"I take no credit," Remus muttered from behind the text.

"What's that Lupin? You take all the credit? Well, I suppose you deserve it. You even managed to distract both Evans and Snivellus for me." Sirius then turned to whisper something to James. Peter tried to lean closer to hear.

"Oi, Remus, Sirius here reckons you're a natural prankster," James said across the dorm. "How about you help us pull off another this Saturday?"

Remus's cogs started turning. Saturday was the next full. That meant Remus wouldn't be around. Which meant he could agree to help out, but then magically not be around when they expected him. "Yeah, okay," Remus complied. "One condition, though. We can't go after Severus again."

"Aw come on Lupin!" moaned Sirius. Remus shook his head. "Fine. Let's go after some Hufflepuffs. Those ninnies could use something to toughen them up." James nodded enthusiastically and Peter nearly fell of his bed for clapping with excitement. Remus groaned and closed his curtains, burying his head under the covers to find sleep.

* * *

Saturday came. Remus woke up and pulled a creased letter hidden inside his battered copy of Hogwarts: A History. It was a letter he had received the second week of classes.

_Remus Lupin,_

_Everything has been arranged as detailed to you and your parents this summer. When the time comes, go up to the hospital wing to meet Madame Pomfrey. She will take you from there. Please arrive before dinner time, although if you feel ill before then, feel free to go early. Madame Pomfrey will give further details when you see her._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Remus neatly folded the letter back up and stuck it inside his pocket in case he needed to read it again. He wouldn't really, of course, as he had memorized it by now.

Remus went down to the Great Hall while his dorm mates were still sleeping. Lily, who was also an earlier riser, welcomed him to sit with her. Soon after, James arrived with Sirius, the pair laughing, arms slug around one another. Peter followed right behind, happy to be in on the joke.

Seeing James and Sirius, Lily broke of mid-sentence talking to Remus. "Oh dear," she muttered and give Remus a knowing look before hurrying off. Ever since the confrontation in the common room, Lily had avoided both James and Sirius. This meant Remus was seeing less and less of her outside of class as the pair often searched Remus out to "help" with their planning.

"Morning Remus!" Sirius said, surprisingly chipper.

"You lot seem rather awake," noted Remus between mouthfuls.

"Ah, well it's pranking day, isn't it?" said James, smiling ear to ear as he sat across from Remus. "Hey, you gonna eat that?" James pointed at Remus's plate with a fork.

"Take it," said Remus, pushing the plate away.

"Not so fast James," Sirius said, suddenly grabbing Remus's arm. "This one here is skin and bones. Heck, you'd almost think he was a girl. Don't take his food." Sirius laughed at his joke, James and Peter joining. Remus forced a laugh, suppressing his emotions. It was always harder at the full to control them, but Remus knew that if he didn't he would either lash out or cry, and wasn't sure which was worse.

The rest of the day was spent lazing around the lake and then later up in the dorm preparing for the prank. Just after lunch time, while Remus worked on Astronomy homework, Peter suddenly asked, "Hey, Remus, you feeling okay?" He had been watching over the other boy's shoulder, copying answers from his star chart.

Sirius and James looked up from Sirius's bed, where they were drawing on the faces of famous witches and wizards in their textbooks. "Yeah, mate," Sirius said, "you look pretty bad. Maybe you should go see Pomfrey."

Remus realized was a perfect opportunity this was. "Oh, yeah. Maybe I should." Remus quickly packed away his homework, a look of despair crossing Peter's face.

"Do you want us to come with you?" asked James.

"No, I'm fine."

"Yeah, James," Sirius said, knocked him in the head playfully. "Lupin's not a girl. He doesn't need big, strong Potter to walk to the hospital wing."

Remus left the room as the two began mock wrestling and Peter attempted to discretely pull Remus's star chart back out, instead falling off the bed with a loud squeak. Remus shook his head and marched to the hospital wing.

Madame Pomfrey led him down to the whomping willow, the pair hidden by and invisibility spell as it was still light outside. "No need to push it," she told him. "We could wait for nightfall, but I don't want to risk it."

She had taken him down a long sloping tunnel, which ended into a newly built shack that smelled freshly of pine. "Alright, well. I'm going to lock you in for the night. I'll come back in the morning to get you." Madame Pomfrey's severe expression turned suddenly soft. "Oh, dear. I'm terribly sorry for you." Remus smiled, more for the nurse's benefit than his own. It was hard, he knew, for others to understand what he was going through and it was natural for them to sympathize. Madame Pomfrey gave Remus and awkward hug, and then left through the trapdoor, locking it behind her. Remus sighed, knowing it was going to be a long night.

* * *

The worst part wasn't the changing. It wasn't the ripping of his muscles or the tearing of his tendons as his body stretched and changed. It wasn't the pain or the terrible screaming. Oh how he screamed. It wasn't even the loneliness during the night, or waking up in the morning, cold and half naked, his clothes torn.

No the worst part was loosing control, loosing his mind. Somewhere along the way, his mind stopped thinking about the pain and instead about causing pain. Hunt. Kill. Infect. At some point his boyish screams became howls, and his loneliness became hunger. For an entire night, Remus lost sight of who he was, what he was, and turned into a terrible animal, a killing machine. And in the morning when he woke up, he couldn't remember anything. Yet, the evidences of the night before surrounded him. The new furniture was torn, the mattress ripped.

But mostly it was himself. In the night, the lonely wolf attacked himself, leaving scratches and bite-marks. And in the morning, Remus was left covered in dried blood and sweat, angry cuts on his arms and legs threatening to join the ranks of scars that covered his body.

That morning Remus awoke in Madame Pomfey's arms as she carried him to the castle. The moon had long set and the sun had yet to rise, a few rays poking over the lake. High up in the Hospital wing, Remus fell asleep with the aid of a sleeping potion while the nurse attended to his wounds, rubbing in salves to speed the healing and stop the scarring while shaking her head and tut-tutting.

* * *

Remus awoke in the mid-afternoon to the sounds of James and Sirius arguing with Madame Pomfrey.

"Really boys, I must insist, Remus is quite ill and sleeping. I will not let you see him."

"But Madame Pomfrey," James began.

"Hey! Look!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing at Remus. "He's awake!"

"It's okay," said Remus in response to the questioning look Madame Pomfrey gave him.

"You can see him," she said tersely. "But keep your voices down and do not over excite him."

The pair nodded their heads vigorously, determined to prove they understood. Peter, who shadowed them as usual, bobbed his head so hard, Remus was sure it would fall off. The nurse turned and sighed, and the three bounded over to Remus.

"We tried to come earlier—"

"She wouldn't let us see you—"

"You look awful—"

"What's the matter—"

Remus waited until the three boys had finished talking before attempting to answer, his mind struggling to process the sudden onslaught. 'They came to see me," thought Remus. "Twice! And they worried about me..." He meant to remain composed and act tough, but instead he started crying.

"You came to see me?" Remus managed through his sobs, cheeks turning red with embarrassment.

"Of course we did you ninny," said James affectionately. "We're your friends."

"But if you keep crying like a girl, we might leave," Sirius said seriously. But Remus knew it was a joke, and not an insult, and laughed as he wiped away his tears. He knew that the three boys liked him to plan pranks with and poke fun at, but he didn't realize they actually cared until now. His smile streched his entire face as the three detailed the prank they had pulled on the Hufflepuffs. Remus knew he ought to reprimand them somehow, but couldn't manage, too happy to have real friends.

* * *

**Well I feel all warm and fuzzy after writing that last bit. What about you? **

**Hope you enjoyed it. I feel like now that I've established the Marauders as a group I can start moving a little quicker. Other wise, this story it going to be way too long.**

**Please leave a review and let me know how terrible I am!**


	5. The Problem with Friendship

**So I feel bad. Because it's been almost a week. But I have good excuses! Such as laziness and writer's block. Mostly though, it was State Basketball. Please don't be angry?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Warnings: Nothing in this chapter...**

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* * *

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**The Problem with Friendship**

"Remus!"

Lily dashed towards the portrait hole through which Remus, Sirius, Peter, and James had just climbed through. She pulled Remus into a tight, brief hug.

"Oh, hey Lily," Remus said, cheeks warming slightly, very aware of Sirius whispering something that made James laugh. Lily seemed to notice this too, and shot a disapproving look at the pair.

"I was so worried," Lily said as she lead Remus over to a couch next to fire. The other three disappeared up the stairs to the dormitory. "I tried to come see you but Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let me."

"Yeah, that's what James said," mentioned Remus as he sat down.

"So, what was wrong? Do you feel better now?" Lily sat down next to him, on the side closest to the fire.

"I don't know actually... Madame Pomfrey didn't say exactly. I got the impression that it was going around, though," Remus lied. He picked at his nails nervously, looking at the fire rather than at Lily. "And yeah, loads. I'm still a bit tired, but I don't feel sick anymore."

"Oh, well, that's good," said Lily cheerfully. Remus looked back over. A large smile crossed her face. "Sev has been worried about you too, not that he shows it in the same way. He mostly complained that you weren't around to help with potions."

"But I'm rubbish at them," Remus said incredulously. Lily giggled, seeming to think this funny.

"Exactly," said Lily slowly, her tone of voice indicating just how obvious she thought this was. "Wait—I mean, you're not really rubbish." Lily looked extremely apologetic and placed a hand on Remus's shoulder reassuringly.

"It's okay, I know I am," said Remus, shrugging her hand off. The contact made him feel extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious. Made him wonder if Lily would touch him if she _knew_. His mind raced, the words "I am werewolf, I'm a werewolf," echoing in his head, last night still a painful memory.

Remus stood up suddenly. "I'm gonna go check on that lot," he jerked his head towards the staircase, "and make sure they aren't blowing something up." Remus noticed the fleeting pained look on Lily's face as she stood as well, but decided to ignore it.

"O-okay." Lily smiled warmly. "See you at dinner?"

"Yeah, of course. We're meeting Severus in the library afterward to work on our essays, right?" Lily nodded. "See you at dinner."

As Remus walked toward the stairs he heard Lily call goodbye to him. Remus climbed the stone steps slowly, his mind still reminding him of what he was. "Werewolf, werewolf, werewolf," running through his thoughts as he opened the door and was immediately ambushed by several large objects.

A tribal yell came from Sirius's mouth as he collided with Remus, knocking him backwards. James landed on top of the two and made a loud grunting noise. Peter had charged towards them, but at last minute changed his mind and stood close by, swaying slightly.

"ARRGGG!" Yelled Remus as the wind was knocked out of him by one of the other boy's limbs. "GEROFF ME!" Remus exclaimed, trying to push off the boys who were wrestling him. James laughed as he rolled the group over so that Remus was now trapped between the two.

Remus breathed slowly, trying to regain control. He had exploded not only from surprise, but also for the same reason he had rejected Lily's contact. "I'm serious," Remus muttered calmly, yet menacingly.

"No, I am!" said Sirius. Remus rolled his eyes.

"I think you knocked some sense out of him when you landed on him," said James, who was now disentangling himself.

"Naw," said Sirius, "I think he was always this way." Peter laughed. Sirius seemed unwilling to let go of Remus, the two still rolling on the floor. In a flash of inspiration, Remus went limp much like a possum playing dead.

"Aw, come on Lupin!" Sirius teased, lifting one of Remus's arms and watching it drop to the group. "It isn't fun if you don't fight back!" Remus refrained from commenting as the other boy sighed and finally gave up before extracting himself. Remus grinned, glad that his plan worked. Peter and James were both howling with laughter, Peter clutching his stomach as he leaned against James's bed.

Once Sirius had stood back up, Remus got to his feet while brushing dust off his robes. "I'm really tired, guys," said Remus, walking towards his bed.

"Lupin," said Sirius, a note of concern in his voice, "you don't have to be a prat about it." No, wait, not concern. More like exasperation or annoyance.

"What he means is—" James began, giving Sirius a glance that clearly said _don't make this any worse, okay?_

"Just lay off, okay?" Remus cut him off as he sat on his bed, removing his shoes. Peter had shrunk out of sight on his own bed, and was pretending to read a book that Remus noticed was upside down. Sirius made a huffing noise.

"Alright then. James, we're obviously not wanted here. We can go plan in the common room without Remus." Sirius grabbed a roll of parchment and his wand off his bedside table and walked out of the room, avoiding Remus's glance.

James looked kindly at Remus. "It's because he cares," James said.

Remus couldn't decide if he agreed with the statement and said, "Funny way of showing it."

"Well... I'll see you at dinner." Remus didn't respond. James walked towards the door and held it open. "Peter?" The small boy suddenly dropped the book (still upside down) and walked quickly out of the room, following behind James.

When the door shut, Remus let out a strangled sort of sigh and buried his head under the covers. "Why is he always mad at me?" Remus asked his pillow. "One moment he's acting like we're best friends, the next he's furious at me!" Remus made another odd noise.

He rolled over and sat up slightly, leaning over the bed to feel between the mattress and pulled out a small book. Settling back in his bed, he began flipping through the pages, reading his own scrawl.

_...I got this journal for my eleventh birthday. Mum thought it'd be good for me to have some place to write my thoughts down, especially since I won't be home anymore soon if things work out with Professor Dumbledore..._

_...I got my letter! Hogwarts here I come. I hope I can make a few friends. I don't have many here..._

_...One more week! Went shopping today with Mum for supplies..._

_...I GO TOMORROW!..._

_...Met a lot of people this first week. I haven't written before because I hadn't be alone. I don't think the other boys keep a journal. Sirius was making fun of Lily for having one, so I imagine he'd call me a girl and then make fun of me more. He likes to do that. Call me a girl. And make fun of me. Everyone's surprised he's in Gryffindor. I think he belongs in Slytherin. I don't care what the sorting hat says. And I have to help him pull a prank on a Slytherin now, which I really don't want to do. Oh, I also met Lily, she's my best friend right now, and James, who I guess is okay. Lily doesn't like him too much. And there's Peter. We met the first night, but he likes James better than me, which I guess I'm okay with. And there's Severus. I don't think he likes me. I think I hear James coming so I'm going to stop writing now..._

_...Had to pull a prank on Severus. We're friends now so I felt terrible. Sirius is really mean. I don't like him. But he thinks I'm cool now, and so does James, because they all hate Severus. I don't hate him though. Oh, and James thinks I'm a master prankster now and expects me to help. Maybe I can keep them from attack Severus at least. I have to pretend to like Sirius now because the other Gryffindors do. He still makes fun of me and calls me a girl..._

_...I'm really glad I get to miss the prank because of the full. I feel bad about attacking the Hufflepuffs since I feel I belong there. If I was a true Gryffindor, I'd stand up for what is right..._

Remus flipped to an empty page an loaded his quill.

_The full is over. Madame Pomfrey took good care of me. I'm mostly tired. She said I was really scratched up when she found me. I guess I attacked myself a lot... I'm both mad and angry at my friends. They came to see me (I told them I was sick) so that was nice, but James and Sirius attacked me in the dorm room. And I yelled at them because I'm still worked up from the full. Then Sirius got really angry because I didn't feel like wrestling (not that I ever do—why do other boys like to fight so much?) and left the dorm. James said Sirius is like that because he cares, but I don't know. He still calls me a girl a lot for someone who cares. I know I'm never letting him see this journal._

_I wish I understood my friends better. Peter is mostly quiet and follows James around, so I'm okay with that. James confuses me, because he seems really smart but he's also so cool (or so everyone thinks. I don't know what cool looks like). I thought smart people weren't be cool. If I was that smart, people would probably make fun of me for it. James is the nicest to me and he tries to get Sirius to not make fun of me so much, but I don't think he wants to make Sirius mad at him more so. _

_Sirius is the worst though. Because he can be almost nice sometimes, but mostly he calls me a girl. He always wants me around, though. Does he like me, or does he just want a punching bag? I think the latter... He makes fun of me for being friends with Severus too. He makes fun of me for being poor, for acting like a girl, for taking notes in class. I really want to punch him sometimes. _

_Now that I think about it, I don't really think he's my friend after all... Maybe I'll start spending more time with Lily and Severus. _

Remus glanced at his wristwatch, and deciding that it was late enough to go to dinner, set down his quill. He hid the journal and pulled his shoes back on. He saw James, Sirius, and Peter hunched over something as he passed them in the common room, but didn't bother saying hi. Lily wasn't in the common room, and Remus hoped that meant she was in the Great Hall.

Ten minutes later, Remus was sitting next to Lily enjoying his meal. When James and company walked into the Great Hall glancing around for what Remus thought was probably him, he suggested he and Lily head to the library to study.

"Oh, sounds great, only I haven't got my books," Lily said.

"Neither do I, actually. We can go get them."

"Okay," Lily said, smiling. "I'm going to go tell Sev what we're doing, okay? Meet you at the bottom of the staircase in a minute." Remus nodded as she flounced off towards the Slytherin table. As Remus worked his way to the doors leading into the entrance hall, he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Oi, Remus," said Sirius grinning. He seemed to have forgotten that he and Remus were fighting.

Remus, who's mind was still on how unlike a friend Sirius was and who wasn't as in control of himself as he would like, suddenly blurted, "Come to make fun of me again?"

Sirius's smile fell as he stared at Remus, too surprised to react properly. Remus stalked off angrily, not because of Sirius, but because he had lost control for the second time that day. James looked as if he couldn't decide if he should follow Remus or stay with Sirius. Peter just looked up at James, waiting for the taller boy to act. In the end, James stuck with Sirius, not that Remus was surprised.

Lily ran up, breathing a little heavy, just as Remus walked through the doors. "Sev says he'll be there as soon as he get his stuff." Remus nodded and began walking towards Gryffindor tower as Lily began to babble about something or the other.

In the library, Remus, Lily, and Severus sat next to one another with various textbooks propped open. Remus was writing his potions essay while Severus and Lily were looking up the properties of mandrakes for Herbology.

"Any idea who was responsible for the prank on those Hufflepuff girls?" asked Severus suddenly. Remus jerked up suddenly, slightly warm. "It was probably the same person who dropped dungbombs on me," he continued, sounding sulky.

"Yeah," Remus agreed.

"It's really immature of them, who ever it is," said Lily sensibly as she flipped through pages. "Oh, it's no use!" she cried, "I can't find anything about their mating habits."

"I'm going to find out," said Severus, ignoring Lily's comment. Remus noticed Severus' fist was clenched tightly around his quill. "And when I do..."

"Oh Sev, revenge is hardly ever a good idea," said Lily sadly.

"If I don't," said Severus loudly, earning a disproving look and a demand to "keep quiet" from Madame Pince. "If I don't," Severus repeated, much softer this time, "they'll think I'm weak and prank me again!"

"He has a point," said Remus logically, even though he hoped Severus never found out that he was involved, however unwillingly. Lily continued to glance at Severus sadly, but not before shooting Remus a disapproving look.

"I still don't think...," Lily trailed off. Severus was scowling at her. "Oh, fine then. Just don't talk about it around me, okay?"

Severus seemed to think this was acceptable as his scowl was quickly replaced by a smile. "Say, Remus, will you help me?"

"Oh, I don't know." Remus's mind raced, trying to come up with an excuse not too, knowing that there was no possible way to both (unwilling) prank Severus in secret and pretend to help him find the culprits (of which he was one).

"Please?"

"I, I just can't okay?" Remus knew that Severus would be unhappy, but he didn't know what else to do.

"Fine." said Severus sharply. "Fine. Just fine then. Good to know what great friend I have." For a moment, Remus thought he was about to leave. He didn't, however, but the next hour of studying was stilted and formal. Lily made a few attempts to restore a lighthearted atmosphere, but quickly gave up.

Late that night, when all the other boys were asleep, Remus fished his journal out and added: _People are complicated and having friends is hard. I just make people mad. Maybe I'll just go hang out by __myself._

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**I didn't mean to spend so much time on a single afternoon, but it just happened that way. **

**Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!**


	6. Making Amends

**So, here's an update. Sorry it took so long, things got crazy. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Warnings: None**

**Making Amends**

Remus spent the next two weeks mostly alone. He avoided Sirius because he was tired of being made fun of. He avoided Severus because he didn't want to accidentally incriminate himself (Remus was not a good liar, and sometimes blurted out things that were better kept secret). He avoided James so that he wouldn't be asked to participate in pranking.

This meant Remus spent a lot of time hiding in either his dorm or the library, depending on where his "friends" were. Meal times he still spent with Lily because she was safe. Homework was done mostly in the library, but only when he knew Severus wouldn't be there. In the common room, Remus made sure to be studying or reading so that when James and Sirius did inevitably come over, Remus could easily point out that he was too busy.

Remus, of course, couldn't avoid the students during class. He still paired up with Severus and Lily in potions, but avoided James and Sirius by partnering with Peter in other classes. While Peter was not particularly good at most subjects, he also didn't try to coax Remus into helping them out with pranks except for once.

"Why don't you help us plan anymore?" Peter had asked in charms one day. They were levitating feathers, something that only a few students had gotten the hang of. Lily's feather was already soaring around the room.

"I just don't want to get in trouble," Remus replied, then flicked his wand and muttered the incantation. His feather gave a little jump.

"But...," Peter trailed off. He looked pleadingly at Remus, unable to put into words what he thought and felt.

"I just don't, okay? Please don't ask again." Remus screwed up his face in concentration and waved his wand. His feather decided to hover in the air, but didn't raise any higher. Just then, a large ticklish object flew into Remus's face, causing him to loose focus. Remus's own feather fell as he sneezed and pushed the other feather away. Two tables over, Sirius held his wand aloft, a large grin on his face. James was sitting next to him, laughing. The pair were looking over at Remus, who rolled his eyes. Soon the feather had flow around to several other students in the classroom, including Lily, who looked less than pleased and promptly took control of the feather and sent it out the window.

The week following Peter's confrontation passed smoothly for Remus. He continued to spend most of his time strategically split between the library and dorms to avoid both his dorm mates and Severus. Lily had inquired about his sudden disinterest in studying with her and Severus a few times, but dropped it when Remus gave her a pleading look. "It's complicated," he would say.

Severus didn't say anything and for a while appeared undisturbed by the change in behavior. However, his requests for Remus to read the next step out of the potions book or for half a scoop of frog livers turned from friendly in nature to something more distant and steely. Remus knew Severus was hurt. He also knew Severus was too proud to say anything. Remus wished he knew how to better handle the situation with Severus, but he couldn't chance incriminating himself, and didn't really want to oust his other friends either. Well, if he could call the people he constantly avoided friends.

At first, James and Sirius seemed to take the change in stride, merely shrugging when Remus told them he had too much work to do. After a week and a half though, Remus noticed their plotting in the common room often involved meaningful glances in his direction. Twice, he barely escaped what he thought might be an intervention by the pair.

The day of the new moon passed pleasantly. James and Sirius didn't attempt to approach him once, Lily had given up on pestering him, and Severus was out ill, meaning potions was the least awkward it had been in weeks. Lily even brewed their potion so exellently that the pair received ten points apiece from Professor Slughorn.

When Remus settled into bed that night, early as always to avoid the others, he sighed happily and went to sleep, glad that tomorrow was Saturday.

"Oi!"

Remus woke groggily, thinking it couldn't possibly be morning. Two bright lights swam in his vision as he rubbed his eyes.

"Wake up, Lupin!"

Remus knew that voice, knew who called him that. He groaned and reached for his blankets to pull over his head when he noticed that his feet were cold and the covers were gone.

"For a morning person, he doesn't wake up too quickly," muttered one of the voices.

Finally everything sharped. James and Sirius were both hovering above him, James sitting on the bed, Sirius standing. Their wands were lit and were pointing at his face.

"Ah, he's awake." That was James.

Suddenly something large and warm was straddling him and Remus made a grunting noise as air was forced from his lungs. The large thing was Sirius, and he was extremely boney.

"Right. And now he can't get away either," said Sirius. Remus had lifted a hand to shade his eyes.

"Can't see...," Remus muttered.

"Oh! Yes, quite right," James agreed, and moved his wand out of blinding distance. Sirius followed suit.

"You've been avoiding us," said Sirius, sounding neither upset nor angry. There was a slight glint in his eye that Remus didn't particularly like.

"No, I," Remus stumbled, but thankfully James cut him off before he made a stupid and very Remus excuse.

"Yes, you have. I know you've been avoiding Lily, too." James sounded particularly pleased that he knew this bit of information. Remus tried to protest that while he may have been avoiding the others, he hadn't been avoiding Lily, but Sirius spoke before Remus could get a word in.

"Only because she told Peter, who told you, you nitwit." Sirius bopped James on the head with his wand and James complained under his breath as he rubbed the spot. "Anyways, like James said, you've been avoiding us. And that's not okay." Sirius was smiling now, and Remus thought he was enjoying the situation too much. Remus was personally not enjoying the situation. He'd been silently wriggling, trying to get out from under Sirius for the past several minutes, but to no avail. His feet were cold, he was trapped, and Sirius's boney butt was not exactly comfortable. He was a little scared, very unhappy, and felt close to tears

"Could you move?" Remus asked, pleadingly, trying to keep his voice steady.

The pair grinned at each other. "I don't know," said James. "I think he might run off." Remus groaned. Honestly, that had been his plan. Where he would go he wasn't sure, but he hated confrontation. Tears had started welling in his eyes.

"I agree, James." Sirius turned back to Remus. "Look, Lupin, whether you like it or not, we like you, and we want to be your friends."

"We can't have you avoiding us everywhere we go. Friends don't avoid each other." James talked with his hands, Remus noticed. The ball of light from his wand was dancing around and Remus watched it, trying to focus on not crying. The whole situation had become ridiculous, pinned to his bed in the middle of the night and nearly crying from fear while his friends told him that they wanted to be, well, friends.

"And you," said Sirius, "have been avoiding us like the plague."

"Actually, he's acting more like he's got the plague and doesn't want to give it to us," said James thoughtfully. "_The plague is close,"_ thought Remus as he felt a tear slide down his face. He coughed to cover up his wiping motion.

"Good observation, mate." Sirius smiled at James, then at Remus. "So here's the deal. You will hang out with us, and you will have fun. Don't make us torture you." Sirius was kidding, and Remus realized he missed Sirius's kidding despite the rest of the boy's flaws.

Remus nodded vigorously, not trusting his voice.

"Alright, I think we can let his go now." James stood up and stretched. "See you guys tomorrow," he said, and then walked off towards his own bed.

Sirius laughed as he almost fell over while trying to get off of Remus. Remus smiled weakly and drew a shaky breath, trying to keep himself together. "_This is a good thing,_" he told himself. "_You should _not _be crying._" As Sirius righted himself, Remus couldn't help but sniff loudly.

"You all right?" asked Sirius as he moved his lit wand into Remus's face again.

"Fine, allergies," Remus mumbled, trying not to let Sirius hear the shake in his voice, but the tears on his face betrayed him.

"Oh, gods, you're such a girl," Sirius said automatically. Remus breathed in sharply, reminding himself to stay in control. "No, wait- I didn't mean that." Sirius sat down again, this time on the bed. "Hey, you saw me cry once, right?" Sirius smiled weakly at Remus, looking as if it hurt him to remember. "So this isn't a big deal. I won't say anything to James."

Remus reflected that he would prefer anyone see him cry rather than Sirius, but this Sirius, a warm, caring Sirius, overwhelmed him.

"Talk to me." Sirius smiled crookedly, his eyes filled with concern.

Remus knew that boys weren't supposed to talk about their feelings and what was hurting them, especially not to other boys. Sirius had taught him that. But now, warm Sirius was asking him to do just that, and Remus trusted warm Sirius.

"I feel like I'm lying to Severus," Remus said carefully as he buried his hands in the sheet beneath him. Sirius looked confused, but nodded, asking him to continue. "He's my friend... but you lot don't like him. And then we pranked him that one time, and he says he's going to figure out who it was and get them back. And I can't lie very well, and I'm worried about ratting out you lot or myself. And I don't want to loose him or you as friends, so I've been avoiding everyone." Remus was practically sobbing now, and realized that at some point Sirius had put his arm around Remus comfortingly, and that Remus was crying into his shoulder.

"Gods, I am a girl," said Remus. He laughed then, at himself, and at how stupid he was to think that avoiding people was the answer.

"No, you're not," said Sirius strongly, but soothingly. "Don't worry about Severus—"

Remus cut him off softly. "Just because you don't like him—"

"No, no, I wasn't going to say that. Be quite and let me talk." Sirius shifted slightly, and Remus became aware of how awkward he felt in the embrace, as comforting as it was. But Remus didn't want to make it awkward for Sirius, so he sat still, focusing on breathing deeply.

"Don't worry about Severus," Sirius tried again, "because soon enough, he'll know that me and James are behind the pranks. And," he continued, as if sensing Remus's unspoken question, "I'll protect you. He'll never have to know you were involved."

Remus decided that this was a nice compromise. If this meant Severus wouldn't have to be mad at him, and he could start hanging out with everyone again, he could deal with that. "Okay," Remus said.

Sirius beamed at him and bounced up, showing no sign that the contact had been awkward for him. Remus envied how normal and confident Sirius was, even when he was being kind and comforting. Sirius waved goodnight and walked back to bed while Remus pulled his covers back up. As he fell asleep for the second time that night smiling, he hoped that this encounter marked a new relationship for him and Sirius.

* * *

Things, however, did not change between Remus and Sirius. Remus didn't know if it was because James was around or if one of them had to be crying for Sirius to open up. Either way, Remus was still called a girl by Sirius at least five times a day while James and Peter laughed and Remus struggled to remain indifferent.

He began studying with Severus and Lily again. Lily didn't ask why, but had a knowing look about her. Severus accepted the change just as slowly and as wordlessly as before,but their steady friendship regrew with ease.

The next two weeks were wonderful, excluding Sirius's insults. But even Remus had to admit that after a month, calling Remus a girl was more of a term of endearment to Sirius than anything else.

Remus refused to help plan any pranks involving Severus. The one in progress, according to James, was coming along quite smoothly and had something to do with Halloween.

Before he knew it, the Full had come and gone and after a day of rest and potions, Madame Pomfrey released an exhausted Remus from the hospital wing. When he walked into the dorm, three pairs of eyes were instantly upon him, and Sirius quickly jumped off his bed and stalked towards him.

"Where the hell have you been?" he accused while pointing at Remus with the quill in his hand. Ink spattered on Remus's face as he realized that he had forgotten to say something about him disappearing. His mouth flapped up and down as Sirius began to rant. "You weren't at lunch or dinner last night, and missed both breakfast and all of today's classes, along with dinner."

"Sirius," James said warningly as he took in the bags under Remus's eyes.

"You can't say both and then list three things," Remus said stupidly. For a moment, Sirius looked like he was going to yell at Remus, but then he did something that surprised Remus. He laughed. James was smiling his winning smile and Peter looked confused.

"What's so funny?" Peter asked, hoping to get in on the joke.

"What is it with you and grammar?" Sirius asked, bemused. "Whenever you get uncomfortable you start correcting grammar."

Remus shuffled his feet. "Erm. Grammar is easy?" This elicited more laughter, and Remus took advantage of the moment to try and determine just where he ought to have been. As Sirius led him over to his bed where the other two were sitting, book and parchment spread out, he asked again where Remus had been.

"Oh, well, my mum," Remus invented. "She was... ill, yeah, and so I had to rush home to see her. It was all very sudden or I would've told you lot."

"You're the one who looks ill," remarked James.

"He could have gotten it from her," offered Peter, shyly.

"Yeah, that's it," Remus agreed. A few minutes later, when the four of them started working on assignments together, Remus realized that he had just, very successfully, told a lie.

* * *

**So this being my first fanfic I've ever written, I've never had a Beta before. Should I have a Beta? Does anyone want to be my Beta? **

**Hope you liked it, please review! I would really appreciate it!**


	7. Halloween

**Whew! Sorry this took so long. Between sports and schoolwork, it seems I never have any time!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Warnings: Boyish usage of the word poop.**

**Halloween**

"Oi! James! Wake up!"

"Mmmphg."

Remus woke up with a start, surprised to hear Sirius's voice.

"James!" Sirius called out again, in a sing-song voice. Remus heard another muffled grunt.

"_Just how late have I slept in," _thought Remus, opening his curtains to peer into the room. The pinkish hue of the sunrise lingered in the sky. James and Sirius rarely woke before eight if they could help it, even if it meant barely making breakfast.

"James!" Sirius sounded harsher and ripped apart James's curtains. "Wake up! Today's the day mate, or have you forgotten?" James suddenly shot out of bed so quickly that he nearly fell back down. He reached out and gripped Sirius's shoulder momentarily for support.

"Right so!" James said loudly, awake and alert. Remus heard Peter shifting in his own bed nearby. "Halloween." A mischievous grin crossed James's face.

"Right," Remus remembered, groaning, as James and Sirius began to dress. He withdraw back into his bed, pulling the covers over his face. Remus was not fond of Halloween. The holiday was a painful reminder of his disease. Ghost stories often involved werewolves, always as villain. On top of that, today his friends would be pranking Severus in what would mostly likely be both embarrassing and painful.

"Remus," sang James merrily. "You want to help with the final preparations?"

Remus ignored this. "James," said Sirius reprovingly.

"Oh, right," said James, understanding the warning. Remus felt relief wash through him, silently thanking Sirius for keeping his promise. A few minutes later, James, Sirius, and Peter exited the room quietly, leaving Remus to sleep.

Remus re-awoke a couple of hours later, the sun now streaming brightly through the window. He rubbed his eyes gingerly as he got out of bed and padded into the bathroom. After combing his hair and brushing his teeth, he went back into the dormitory and changed.

Ten minutes later he was in the Great Hall sitting next to Lily and a few of her friends.

"Look at the pumpkins!" marveled Alice Longbottom, a round faced girl in Remus's year, to Lily. Remus glanced up at the huge vegetables, each the size of a small car. Menacing faces were carved into the pumpkins which glowed dimly in the bright hall.

"I just love Halloween," said Lily excitedly. "Back home, we always went trick-or-treating once it got dark."

"What's that?" asked James, who has just sat down next to Remus, smiling. Sirius sat down opposite of James and grabbed a piece of toast off of Remus's plate. Peter squeezed in between Sirius and Alice and proceeded to, as was his habit, eat directly off the main dishes. Lily shot him a reproving look.

"There's a plate of toast right next to you and yet you reach across the table for mine?" asked Remus with exasperation. Sirius grinned at him.

"You always take the good pieces," he argued through a mouthful. "Also, your toast is already buttered." Remus sighed and picked up another piece of toast.

Lily was scowling at James. "It's a muggle tradition," Lily said succinctly before turning back to Alice.

"But what _is _it?" asked James while cutting up a piece of sausage. Lily ignored him. "Oi, Lily." She spared him a dark look. "Later today, we've got a... surprise for Snape. It should be entertaining." He grinned at her, as if expecting Lily to feel honored to be let in on the secret.

"Why can't you leave him alone?" She snapped. She gave her half-eaten breakfast a breif look then said to Alice, "I'm full. You ready to go?"

Alice, who had been laughing at something Peter had said, nodded, and the pair left. "What'd I say?" Peter asked, confused. Sirius was also laughing, indicating that they had been laughing at Peter rather than with him.

Sirius ruffled Peter's hair affectionately as a flurry of owls entered the Great Hall. "Excellent," said James under his breath, looking towards the Slytherin table. Remus followed his gaze to Severus who was receiving post from one of the school's owls. He took the letter off the owl's leg and read it quickly before stuffing it into his school bag, shooting a furtive look down the Gryffindor table. "Phase one, completed," said James as he, Peter, and Sirius exchanged hi-fives. Remus rolled his eyes then returned his attentions to his plate.

Remus nearly forgot about the plot the rest of the day. His friends remained usually quite about the event and Severus didn't indicate that anything unusual had happened that morning.

That night the Great Hall was marvelous. The lights were dimmed and the Jack-O-Lanterns seemed to be alive. Live bats flew throughout the hall and more ghosts than usually floated about. Floating candles provided most of the illumination, although bright streaks of lightning occasionally flashed across the ceiling.

"Oooh! Scary!" cried a second year Ravenclaw girl. Remus pushed by her and her friends, trying to keep up with James as they walked to their table. As they sat down, Remus eyed the bats suspiciously. "What if they, you know...," he trailed off. When the three boys just started at him he said, "defecate?" Sirius laughed while James and Peter merely looked confused.

"Defe-what?" asked Peter loudly over a a couple of shrieking Gryffindor girls. A number of ghosts had passed straight through them. Remus shivered, recalling the feeling of walking into a ghost. It was like being doused with ice water, but on the inside.

"Oh, you know," said Sirius, still laughing. "Poop." His laughter redoubled as he said the word, James and Peter joining him.

"Haha! Poop!" cried James delightedly. Remus cringed. As much as he loved and admired the English language, there were a few words he preferred not to use.

"Ug, just how old are you?" called Lily from a few seats down. "I thought words like 'poop' stopped being funny to boys at the age of five."

Remus was thankful that at that exact moment, before James or Sirius could react, Dumbledore stood up to address the Hall. A sound like wind rushed through the room as neighbors shushed one another.

"Ah, what a delightful celebration," said Dumbledore serenely. "But let's not waste it with words." He clapped his hands and food suddenly appeared on the golden platters. "Tuck in!"

Over an hour later, the plates finally cleared of their contents. Peter still had flecks of cobbler on his face from when he had fallen asleep on his plate. Remus felt he might do the same if they were not released for bed soon. Sirius and James, however, had the opposite reaction to the food. They had run around the hall for several minutes before the head boy, George somebody, from Hufflepuff had ordered them to sit down and behave themselves. So, they had resigned themselves to levitating bits of food around, trying to start a food fight.

As they made there way up the stairs, Remus realized that no prank occurred during the feast or ant time that day. He asked Peter about it as they climbed through the portrait hole. "Doxies," said Remus, giving the password.

"Oh, yeah," said Peter. "You'll see. We still have something planned."

Remus felt a twinge of disappointment. He had hoped that just maybe they had forgotten all about it.

Later that night, not long after Remus had retired to the dormitories to avoid the party downstairs, James, Sirius, and Peter came in as well.

"Early night?" asked Remus, setting his book down in his lap.

"That's what we want them to think," said Sirius slyly. The three boys were all removed their shoes, but not their socks.

"It's part of the plan," remarked Peter as he slid on his socked feet, barely managing not to fall. Sirius was skating around skillfully, clearly enjoying himself. James, however, was bent low over his trunk.

"A-ha!" he declared triumphantly. He pulled out a large, shimmering cloth. Remus gasped.

"Is that...?" Remus had read about such objects. They were really rare, and really valuable.

"Nicked it from my house before I left," said James as he wrapped it around himself, his head suddenly floating in midair. "My dad would never use it, said it was an heirloom. He'll never miss it." He added reassuringly, noting the worried look on Remus's face. "Anyways, we're going to be off now."

Peter and Sirius both walked over to where James was, and the three disappeared underneath the cloak. "You should go to the common room," Remus heard Sirius say, his voice apparently coming from nowhere.

"Oh, um, Peter?" said James's voice. "I just realized we're going to need you to hang out inside the common room to let us in and out." Peter emerged from the cloak, looking simultaneously upset with the development, yet still eager to be a part of the plan.

Peter quickly pulled his shoes back on before opening the door, allowing James and Sirius to exit before him. "You coming?" asked Peter. Remus sighed, deliberating. Finally, he set down his book on _A History of Wizards in the Third Century_ and followed Peter (and an invisible James and Sirius) down to the common room.

Peter walked over the portrait hole, letting the pair out of the room. "Oh, I thought I heard knocking," Peter had said, somewhat loudly, to cover up what seemed to be a pointless opening and closing of the portrait hole. Remus sat in a chair near the entrance as it allowed him to stay both close to Peter and far away from the festivities. As they sat awkwardly, Remus wished he had brought his book.

A few of the older students had smuggled firewhiskey and butterbeer, and a number of the sixth and seventh years appeared to be drunk. Remus suspected a few of them to be faking. Someone was playing muggle records to which many of the students were dancing. A few games of exploding snap and wizard's chess were ongoing, both drawing large, cheering crowds.

It surprised Remus, then, when a loud shriek could be heard from the hallway outside the common room. Immediately, the record stopped. A second year girl screamed out in suprise, and a few people shouted, "What was that?" and "Where'd it come from?" A loud crack erupted from one of the game of exploding snap, singeing the eyebrows of the distracted players.

"Prefect, coming through," cried a sixth year girl as she wove her way through the crowd, looking rather sober compared to just a moment before. As she pushed open the portrait hole, half the common room followed behind her, including Peter and Remus.

Sprawled out in the middle of the hall, drenched and body-bound, was Severus. His feet were bare and both his shoes were floating a few feet above him. Hanging off the spear of suit of armor was a pair of underpants, most likely Severus'. Remus wasn't sure how James and Sirius had managed to get them off of Severus without removing his pants, but he didn't particularly want to think about it.

The sixth year prefect was know trying to usher the Gryffindors back into the common room as another prefect undid the body-bind and retrieved Severus' belongings.

"Who are you," asked the prefect, handing the shoes and underwear to shivering Severus.

"S-s-sev," he teeth were chattering wildly, whether from the cold or fright Remus couldn't tell.

"Severus!" cried Lily as she rushed forward through the crowd. Severus looked mortified and stepped backwards as if he'd rather not see her.

Just then Mcgonagall appeared as if from nowhere. "All of you, inside, now," she ordered. The group complained loudly, but obliged. Remus felt something invisible push by him as he turned, but Lily's voice stopped him.

"Remus!"

Remus looked back over at her, unsure of what she wanted. Mcgonagall was tending to Severus, drying and interrogating him.

"I don't know who it was!" said Severus angrily.

"Well, we'll get to the bottom of it, I promise," said Mcgonagall reassuring. "However," he voice darkened in tone, "as sympathetic as I am to your situation, you were still out of bounds. I'll talk to your head of house about punishments." Mcgonagall turned, noticing that Remus and Lily had yet to move back inside. "You two, inside, now. Or I'll punish you myself!"

Lily had been handing Remus a piece of parchment, eyes wide. Remus snatched it from her quickly, then, grabbing her hand, pulled her into the common room. Inside, the party had resumed, but the butterbeer and firewhiskey had mysteriously disappeared. "Just until we know Mcgonagall's not going to barge in," Remus heard a fifth year boy mutter to his friend.

Lily pushed Remus towards an empty chair, and prompted him to read the note.

_Dear Sev,_

_Meet me up at the portrait of the fat lady at 11:30 tonight. I have a surprise for you!_

_XOXOX_

_Lily_

_(P.S., Don't mention this to _anyone_! Even me. I want to make sure no one accidentally finds out.)_

"I didn't write it," said Lily when Remus looked up. Remus groaned.

"Yeah. I know."

"It was James and Sirius, wasn't it?" Remus knew that he couldn't possibly lie, and nodded his head ever-so-slightly. "Oh! That toe-rag!" raged Lily. She stormed away from Remus, then turned back sharply. "When you see them, you tell them that they will hear personally from me!" Remus gave another little nod as Lily stormed through the crowd and up to her dorm room. Remus returned to his own, feeling extremely traitorous.

James and Sirius were in the middle of a very dramatic reenactment when Remus entered the room. Peter sat perched on the edge of his bed, mouth agape, drinking in every word.

"And then," said James, "as he was looking around, calling out, 'Lily, is that you?' Sirius emptied the bucket onto his head."

"That's what the shriek was," commented Sirius, a wide grin spread across his face. "I think he wet himself. Then, I put him into the body-bind."

"We were going to jinx him, but everyone rushed out too quickly," said James sadly.

"We weren't expecting him to be such a girl about the whole thing."

Remus tried to ignore them as they continued the retelling, grabbing his pajamas before disappearing into the bathroom and turning on the tap to drown out the noise. He emerged several minutes later once he was certain that conversation had proceeded to other topics. When Sirius and James tried to talk to him, Remus merely grumbled "G'night," and fell into bed.

* * *

By morning, every student knew about Severus' escapade the previous night. He had yet to reveal to anyone why he had been out so late, and no one had yet determined who his attackers were, although a few rumors were already floating around.

As Remus entered the Great Hall, right behind Sirius and James, who had woken up earlier than normal to bask in their post-prank glory, they had passed by Severus. Sirius had muttered, "Lily sends he best," with a smirk as they walked by and Severus had turned a violent shade of pink.

"You!" He said in a stage whisper, understanding the comment. Sirius merely winked while James gave a girlish finger wave. Remus ducked his head, wishing he could disappeared. Thankfully, Severus missed Remus as he was preoccupied with cursing at James and Sirius under his breath.

Within minutes, the news that Sirius and James had attacked Severus swept the entire hall. Shortly after, Mcgonagall swooped down from the the staff table and drug the boys away. Peter, who had neither asked for nor received credit, remained with Remus.

"What do you think will happen?" asked Peter, extreme worry etched all over his face. Remus shrugged.

"Detentions probably. Maybe a few points." Remus didn't care particularly what happened, believing they deserved what ever punishments they received. Remus hoped that if they got into trouble, he wouldn't feel quite so guilty about the affair.

Remus was extremely surprised when James and Sirius turned up for Charms on time, smiles stretched across their faces. Peter had immediately inquired about their disappearance.

"Well," explained James as they practiced changing the color of napkins, "she couldn't exactly punish us because she didn't have any proof. Just Snape's suspicions."

"She sure warned us though," remarked Sirius as he lazily flicked his wand, his napkin changing rapidly from orange, to purple, to blue, to red. Peter let out a squeal as his caught on fire, which James quickly put out. "Said that she knew, even if she couldn't prove it, and she would punish us double if we pulled a stunt like that again."

Peter expressed great relief at the news, but Lily did not feel quite the same. "You deserve worse that detention, you know. Luring another student out after hours!" Her napkin now sported a checkerboard design of blue and yellow, earning ten points for Gryffindor. As Remus contemplated his own napkin (which he thought looked slightly more pink than red now), he couldn't help but side with Lily, even if he chose not to speak.

"Aw, but Lily," said Sirius, "you should be thanking us! We proved what greasy-haired creep of a friend you have. Can you believe he would sneak out just to meet you."

Lily sniffed haughtily. "Even if what he did was wrong, it was very sweet of him!" she cried indignantly as she flashed her wand through the air. Her napkin started flashing colors haphazardly due to her overzealous wand work. "Oh no!" Lily returned her attentions to her napkin and ignored the four for the rest of class.

As Remus walked with his friend from Charms down to the dungeons for potions, a loud crack took him by surprise. James had fallen to the floor in a body-bind, unable to moved. Sirius quickly pulled out his wand, shoving Remus and Peter towards a corner. Someone shouted an incantation loudly, and Sirius let out a yell, purple welts appearing on his face. A few moments later, and the same welts appeared on James as well. Remus saw movement out of the corner of his eyes, watched a cloak whip out of view, and knew that Severus had exacted his revenge.

* * *

**So I've decided I'm going to try an update at least once a week. Is that possible? Probably not. But if I give myself a goal, then I'm much more likely to follow through. You know what else might help? Reviews. I'd love a few! **


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